


What Could Have Reversed Our Happy Ending?

by kibasniper



Series: Femslash February 2021 [27]
Category: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Crying, Dissociation, F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2021, Grief/Mourning, Hugs, Post-Canon, Sad Ending, Satokowashi-hen (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 21:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper
Summary: The funeral for Satoko and Rika is underway at the Furude Shrine. Rena flees and meets a guest arriving late with sobering news.
Relationships: Ryuuguu Rena/Sonozaki Shion
Series: Femslash February 2021 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134674
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	What Could Have Reversed Our Happy Ending?

**Author's Note:**

> femslash february 2021 prompt 27: historic au.  
> so, still not doing the aus, but i saw 'historic' and connected it to the deaths of rika and satoko at st. lucia. that's pretty historic since it absolutely reverses the happy ending from matsuribayashi-hen if you consider gou canon.

Houjou Satoko and Furude Rika died at St. Lucia Academy.

Hinamizawa mourned.

The news broke through the small village with the force of a thunderclap. Anguished sobs filled the streets and overpowered the cicadas. They cried for the shrine maiden and her friend, asking Oyashiro-sama for answers which they would never receive or if their god eventually chose to respond, they would never understand.

But Ryuuguu Rena was not home when the tragedy reached Hinamizawa. She was in a college class when she was called into the guidance counselor’s office. At first, she feared she was in trouble. Her nerves were hardly assuaged when she found Keiichi and Mion in that cramped room with wallpaper and carpeting in sickly shades of yellow.

The one who requested the meeting was a plump, middle-aged woman with wrinkles lining her mouth. She seemed tired, as if it was her constant mood. She asked them to sit down, and they did in creaky, metal chairs.

The tragedy passed the counselor's lips, and Rena’s world flashed white.

When her vision returned, she saw Keiichi in hysterics, demanding answers. The school’s security team was present, gripping his shoulders. His arms swung wildly until they restrained him further by pushing them behind his back. Rena scanned the room, finding framed photographs of the counselor’s family scattered on the floor, along with several pens and papers.

To her left, Mion sat in slack-jawed horror. Rena was unable to comprehend the words her friend muttered. Mion covered her mouth and leaned back, allowing tears to spill from her eyes. Rena tried to say her name, but Mion collapsed out of her seat and pressed her knuckles to her brow, bawling like a baby.

What happened next, Rena couldn’t remember. Her body had swayed to the side, and her head hit the corner of the counselor’s desk. She blacked out before she slammed to the ground.

The coming days happened in a blur. She couldn’t eat or sleep. Her head buzzed with weariness and sorrow, unable to gather any idea of coherency. She remembered Keiichi embracing her one afternoon. She recalled Mion using her shoulder to cry on in the evening. She believed she saw her father in her dorm room, but that might have been her imagination.

The funeral came faster than she expected. Everyone in Hinamizawa gathered at the Furude Shrine wearing pitch black clothing. Some women veiled their faces. Children paid their respects with clasped hands and bowed heads. Kimiyoshi could hardly get through the eulogy without Oryou gripping his forearm, Mion standing by her side in solemn distress as the next head of the Sonozaki family.

Rena couldn’t take her eyes off the coffins laid out in front of the shrine’s entrance. She believed Rika and Satoko would have wanted to be buried in the same coffin, but she kept her opinion to herself. The oak lids were also sealed shut. Ooishi told her their bodies were too mangled for viewing. Opening them would give everyone a good fright, but he hadn’t been smiling when he informed her.

Everything was once again a blur. People apologized to her face. Others wailed for their priestess while some found the nerve to curse Oyashiro-sama for failing to protect them. She smelled incense and smoke and all kinds of perfume. She tasted salt on her lips and wiped her eyes, breaking free from the crowd, and she rushe down the steps to the dirt path leading to town.

Rena sucked in a breath. She gripped her knees and swallowed. Her teeth hit, and she didn’t care one bit if they chipped. She squeezed the thick fabric of her black dress, asking herself a question that no one could answer.

_Why? Just why?_

A hand fell on her shoulder. Rena gasped and looked up.

Shion was dressed in a black kimono. Her hair was clipped by her neck and fell over her shoulder. Deep purple marks were blotted underneath her eyes, a sign she hadn’t slept in days.

“Shii-chan,” Rena crooned, straightening her back. She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “I didn’t see you up there.”

“I just arrived,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “Irie-san called me while I was on my way.”

Rena’s heart sank into her stomach. She tightened her hands into fists. “What could he possibly want at a time like this?”

Shion gulped down a breath. Closing her eyes, she smoothed a stray hair behind her ear and offered Rena a tired smile. “Satoshi-kun died this morning. I think he realized his sister was gone and joined her in Heaven.”

“Sato-? Satoshi-kun? Satoshi-kun died? He died?” Rena sputtered as if the wind was knocked out of her lungs. “But he-? Wasn’t he-? I thought he-”

“Irie-san was treating him in secret because of his severe Hinamizawa Syndrome,” Shion replied, Rena noting her tone was devoid of emotion. “Satoshi-kun was in a coma for a long time. He was finally showing signs of genuine recovery this year, but this morning, he…well, he simply...” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “...passed.”

“Shii-chan, oh, Shii-chan, I’m sorry,” Rena murmured, hugging herself. She raked her fingers through her dress, bunching up the fabric. “Why did this happen? It doesn’t make any sense. None of this does.”

Shion gazed at the steps leading up to the funeral. She sniffled, her lips pursing. Her hands formed fists by her hips, and she slowly shook her head, her molars gritting. “You’re right. None of this makes sense. They happened to stand under the chandelier at that exact moment? Satoshi-kun happened to die on the day of their funeral? It’s too much!”

Shion slammed her fist into her open palm. Wincing, she pulled her hand away, glaring at the faint scars running across three particular fingernails. She dropped her arms, her shoulders sagging as gravity weighed her down, the pain in her nails trickling up her arm.

Rena caught her hands. A choked breath escaped her. Tears blurred her vision, making the green tint of Shion’s hair much duller. Closing her eyes, her tears slipped along her lashes and fell to sand by their flats.

“We won. We defeated the people who wanted to hurt us but why? In the end, did any of that matter?” Rena sobbed, pressing her forehead to Shion’s shoulder. She felt the taller woman wrap her arms around her waist to keep her close. She heard Shion’s heart hammering in her chest, quickening as Rena cried. “Even though we won, fate still conspired against us! Even though we all believed, even though we all did our part, we still lost! Why? Why? Why?”

She repeated that word until her vocal chords constricted. She howled it to the bright blue sky that burned her retinas. Rena stomped her feet and scratched through her scalp with her free hand. Fury mixed with despair, fueling her rant as she blubbered and screamed, cursing anyone and anything who could have rolled the dice against their favor.

“Why did they have to die? Why?” Rena bawled, her cheeks dark red as she gasped for breath.

Shion stroked through her hair, hissing through her teeth, “They shouldn’t have. We won. We won, so…” She hiccuped and buried her face into Rena’s hair. “I don’t know! It’s too malicious that we would fight so hard only for it all to come crashing down around us later! I waited for Satoshi-kun and helped Satoko-chan for years, but this-! This is just-!”

The young ladies sank into each other. They embraced each other so tightly that their spines could have snapped. Their sobs reached the heavens, but the deceased would not answer them.

Rena nestled into the crook of Shion’s neck when they collapsed. She felt Shion’s hand rubbing small circles on her tense back. Glancing up at her, Rena could have taken her face and kissed her, her beauty in the tragedy unparalleled.

But she kept her hands around Shion’s waist and lowered her eyes. As Shion held her close, Rena could only ask her why.


End file.
